The Torn Prince is a 2014 Frozen fanfic published on fanfiction.net by user Mogitz. It serves as a direct sequel to Frozen. The description reads "The events that happened during Frozen but from Hans' point of view. After then, after the fiasco in Arendelle, Hans returns home to await his trial. When a very ill Anna comes to testify, will it help him evade his punishment or lead him to the hangmans' noose?" The fanfic ran between July 2014 to December 2014 and is approximately 100,000 words long.
Read the full fic here
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This fanfic provides examples of:
- Adaptational Heroism: Despite being a straightforward case of Evil All Along in the original movie, here Hans is given a sympathetic backstory and motivation. The first part of the fic, the events of Frozen from his perspective, shows he was genuinely taken with Anna and started with the best of intentions. Later, he is fully redeemed for his crimes.
- Adapted Out: Olaf is never seen nor mentioned.
- Big Brother Bully: Hans' brothers are either emotionally distant towards him or outright antagonistic. Sedak particularly stands out for actually orchestrating tragedies just to ensure that Hans remains neglected and unloved.
- Black Sheep: Hans is this in his family. After King Elias' first wife died after giving birth to Felix, he reluctantly married the daughter of a nobleman, who became Hans' mother. Hans' being born to a commoner made him an outcast in his family, along with the fact that his father and brothers were hoping for a girl.
- Connected All Along:
- Hans spent much of his childhood looking at the portrait of the Arendelle royal family.
- Elsa and Kristoff, while on their way to the Southern Isles, realize that the trolls who raised him were the ones who helped Anna as a child.
- Continuation: Most of the fic is set shortly after the events of Frozen.
- Death by Despair: Downplayed. Hans wrongly being sent away to a mental hospital heavily contributes to Anna's death, though she was already sick. Thankfully, it doesn't stick.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: Hans' mother Ava, who died when he was eight. Hans retains untainted memories of her.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Anna and Hans both have to go through lifetimes of hardship and loneliness before they are able to start a new life together.
- Evil Chancellor: Lars, the advisor to the king, spent most of his reign manipulating him to serve his own agenda. When Hans is in Arendelle, he continues by convincing him that he must dispose of Anna and Elsa for the sake of the kingdom.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Dr. Svedsen tells Hans that he has no excuse for betraying Anna even if Lars was manipulating him and he thought she would eventually cast him aside anyway.
- Hopeless Suitor: Played for drama. Kristoff recognizes that Anna, while she does love him in a way, does not return his passionate, romantic love, but still offers to marry her if she does not defend Hans at his trial. However, Anna ends up defending Hans anyway, and Kristoff sadly walks out of the courtroom. In the end, he is still in love with Anna, but no longer wants to marry her now that he knows she'll never love him the way he loves her.
- Like Parent, Like Spouse: When Anna arrives in the Southern Isles, she stays in the same room Hans' mother Ava was treated in when she was dying. When Hans first sees Anna passed out on the ground, his first thought is how much she looks like his mother.
- The Lost Lenore: Hans' father King Elias II fell into a deep depression after his first wife Queen Astrid died.
- Love-Obstructing Parents: Or siblings, anyway. When Elsa finally arrives in the Southern Isles, she is appalled to discover Anna and Hans have fallen in love and is determined to keep them apart. Having been absent from Anna for several months, she assumes Hans has charmed Anna into thinking he's changed and that she was naive enough to fall for it.
- Love Redeems: Anna's love teaches Hans to let go of his insatiable need for power and to care about someone more than himself.
- No Sparks: While en route to the Southern Isles, Kristoff tells Elsa how Anna spoke passionately of Hans to him and how he feels like an afterthought. And while Anna truly does love Kristoff in her own way, she can't force herself to love him the way he loves her, no matter how much she wants to. However, Kristoff is willing to settle for Anna's friendly love and marry her if she doesn't defend Hans at his trial, which Anna says isn't fair for Kristoff. She ends up defending Hans anyway, and afterwards Anna notes that the love Kristoff feels for her is still present. When he assumes that she once loved him, she apologetically says that she still loves him, but never did in the passionate way he loves her.
- The Noodle Incident: Anna mentions to Hans that Kristoff was raised by trolls, but says that it's a long story.
- Parental Neglect: King Elias II was extremely cold and neglectful to his son Hans.
- Puppet King: Lars, King Elias II's adviser, spent years manipulating the king for his personal gain. Later, it's revealed that after the Southern Isles converted to a ceremonial monarchy, Lars was left without a puppet to control so went after Hans to gain the upper hand in Arendelle.
- Reunion Vow: After Hans is sent away, Anna receives a love letter he left behind. In the letter, he wishes her a long and happy life, and promises to see her again one day, be it in this life or the next.
- Shown Their Work: Overlaps with "Not Making This Up" Disclaimer. At Hans' and Lars' trial, the latter's true motivation comes to light. After decades of manipulating the king as his advisor, Lars is suddenly losing that advantage as the Southern Isles transition from an absolute to ceremonial monarchy, effectively leaving the king (and by extension Lars) with very little real power. Thus Lars saw the benefit of manipulating Hans into taking the throne of Arendelle where he could retain power. The chapter's notes reveal that this was also the case in real life, since in 1848 Denmark (the widely accepted setting of the Southern Isles and time period in Frozen) underwent the same transition of power.
- Sibling Murder: Elias III is implied to have advised the judge to sentence Hans to death.
- Soap Opera Disease: The doctors are all unable to figure out Anna's illness.
- Starting a New Life: Hans comes to Arendelle in the first place with this intention. At the end, he leaves to Isles with the healthy Anna so they can have a new life together in Arendelle.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Hans and Anna. Toward the end of the fic, Hans is just about to be tried and likely sentenced to death, not to mention Elsa still hates Hans, and Kristoff still loves Anna, and Anna is dying. Subverted by the end, with Elsa learning to see Hans' more positive qualities, Kristoff coming to terms with his feelings for Anna, and Anna being revived.
- Strong Family Resemblance: While most of Hans' brothers resemble their father, Hans takes after his mother.
- There Are No Therapists: Averted. After arriving home, Hans is ordered by his oldest brother, now king, to attend therapy sessions with Dr. Svedsen twice a week. Svedsen encourages Hans to talk to Anna and later become friends with her.
- Tough Love: In the prologue, King Elias II tells Hans the reason he's been cold and distant all these years is because Hans was the runt of the group and needed to toughen up. However, Hans isn't pleased to find out he's spent his developing years alone and unloved was because he needed to "toughen up".
- The Unfavorite: Hans is disfavored because his mother had relatively low social status, and his father and brothers had been hoping for a girl when he was born.
